The Wolfpack takes on third-ranked Clemson on Thursday night, looking for a monumental upset to help kick-start coach Dave Doeren’s first season in Atlantic Coast Conference football.

The Tigers look like the real deal a few weeks into the season.

“You have to prove it year-in and year-out and they’ve opened up their season doing that,” Doeren said Monday of the first nationally ranked opponent for his N.C. State team.

Both teams hold 2-0 records, though N.C. State is coming off a last-minute escape against Richmond. Gardner-Webb also defeated Richmond with a final-minute field goal, so that’s probably an uncomfortable comparison for the Wolfpack.

Neither Clemson nor N.C. State played during the past weekend.

Doeren said the Wolfpack used the idle time to jump right into preparing for Clemson, with a different mindset than the coaching staff will use later in the season when it has a full two weeks between games.

Still, the break should have given the Wolfpack a chance to fully assess the play of quarterback Pete Thomas, who was pressed into first-string duty after Brandon Mitchell went out with a broken foot. Mitchell remains on crutches.

Thomas had a few misfirings, but those are part of the process, Doeren said.

“He made a lot of plays with his feet on third down,” Doeren said. “He was very accurate with the football. He made a couple mistakes. I know it’s a game Pete will learn from.”

The Wolfpack doesn’t figure to be able to afford many mistakes with Clemson’s high-powered attack on the other side.

“The first thing you’ve got to do is not give up big plays,” Doeren said. “They’re going to make plays. They can’t be explosive plays that lead to points.”